


Twisting Darkness

by Veresiine



Series: The Home Front & Sequels [4]
Category: MapleStory
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Drama, F/M, Finally getting around to some actual romance in later chapters, Hurt/Comfort, Minor Character Death, but this is me writing so romance takes a backseat to plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-05
Updated: 2019-03-06
Packaged: 2019-10-22 22:14:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 19,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17671097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Veresiine/pseuds/Veresiine
Summary: Luminous, Mercedes, and Phantom fight to survive the Labyrinth of Suffering. The focus is on Luminous and Mercedes, but all the Heroes will appear at some point.Canon is loosely followed, but diverges in some places. Covers the events of Labyrinth and some of Limina. Contains occasional minor OC appearances. Title may be changed at some point.I am pulling no punches with the angst and the hurt/comfort and it's still turning out (slightly) less depressing than the original story. I don't know how.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who haven't read Through The Fog, the characters referred to primarily by their class are OCs. Onoras is the name of the ship engineer, who is also an OC.
> 
> This is probably the most OC-heavy chapter of this piece, so bear with me.

"So this is it, eh? Our 'final battle', round two," Phantom said. "Here's hoping it goes better than the last one." Luminous scowled in his general direction. Mercedes sent him a look that said 'just leave it'.

  
Luminous's patience was already worn thin from watching the fight with the eye from the sidelines. The fact that they were approaching the black sun at once too quickly and not quickly enough made it worse. Listening to Phantom talk -- mostly to himself -- was looking like it just might be the final straw. He almost wished Mercedes hadn't insisted upon the rescue mission.

  
At least that mission had gotten them in direct contact with Neinheart. Luminous was glad that Mercedes seemed much calmer after the argument and subsequent briefing. He knew it couldn't be easy for her to go from having absolute authority to only being in (unofficial) command of a small ship with very little information coming her way.

  
On that note, Luminous wondered if Phantom had overheard any or all of their conversation with Neinheart. He hadn't given any indication he had, but Luminous wouldn't put eavesdropping past him.

  
He supposed he'd just assume that, besides himself, only Neinheart, Empress Cygnus, the Empress's champion, and Mercedes knew of the Black Mage's writings about the Adversary.

  
Luminous wasn't completely convinced that Neinheart was in the right to keep it a secret. People might be unmotivated or discouraged if they felt that everything was up to one person, but having some sort of prophecy suggesting they would _win_ had to do _something_ good for morale. Nonetheless, orders were orders, and he saw no reason to violate them. It wasn't his place, and he hadn't given it as much thought as Neinheart had.

  
Neinheart needed to consider the entire fleet. Luminous just had the ship, the other heroes, and the Black Mage to worry about in the short-term.  
On the subject of the ship and its crew, Luminous was almost glad that the thunder breaker had been injured and was resting below deck. The deck felt incredibly crowded with the addition of Phantom, and because the door to the control room was open for better communication, it felt as though the battle mage and the corsair were right next to him as well.

  
He couldn't close the door, either. It was an unspoken agreement that being in charge of communications was Luminous's job now, and since the pilots needed to know what their orders were as soon as possible, he had to be within earshot of them.

  
The White Spear had warned them that other ships had been losing communication, so Luminous wanted to make sure they stayed in contact with the rest of the fleet for as long as possible.

  
"Ah, more fog. Lovely. Though a more agreeable color this time, I have to say." If Luminous missed out on an important message because he couldn't hear it over Phantom narrating, he didn't care what Mercedes said. Someone was going to get hurt.

  
Luminous was entirely aware of the deepening darkness without Phantom pointing it out. He was also entirely aware that there seemed to be more static on the line each time the man on the other end of the communications spoke.

  
Luminous had been trying to magically amplify the signal to get through whatever was blocking it, but he knew he couldn't keep it up forever. The engineer might have had better luck, but he was busy below deck.

  
He felt a sudden change, almost like the world had dropped out below him. _Something_ was clearly very wrong. As soon as he looked over at Mercedes and saw her hair up, he realized the issue.

  
They were falling.

  
His first impulse was to go to the control room and try to fix things, but he stopped himself just at the doorway when he remembered he had no idea whatsoever how to fly a ship. Meanwhile, the other crew members seemed to realize what was going on, and he heard some gasps and curses.

  
"Let me take over!" Unfortunately, being closer to the control room meant that he was right next to the battle mage when they started shouting. Luminous winced. He saw the corsair step aside, and the battle mage grabbed onto the wheel and froze. "Did you change the controls since I last did this?"

  
"Yeah, I asked for some personal changes."

  
"Damn it, Onoras," the older dawn warrior behind Luminous grumbled.

  
"I'm sorry, I can't do anything like this," the battle mage said.

  
"Can anyone else pilot?" Mercedes asked. Luminous turned to see that everyone else on the deck, save for Phantom, had made their way to the entrance to the control room just after he had.

  
"Nope, technology hates me." The younger dawn warrior replied.

  
"Just like everyone and everything else," muttered the older dawn warrior.

  
"So, is this just us, or are there other ships having this issue, too?" Phantom asked, leaning back against the railing, looking entirely too calm for the situation.

  
"I don't know. Communications are down." He had heard nothing but static for the past minute or so.

  
"Then fix them."

  
"I've been _trying!_ " Luminous knew he sounded defensive and desperate, and he hated it.

  
"We know you have been, Luminous." Mercedes tried to sound reassuring, but he could hear the worry in her voice deep down. He couldn't blame her. The reality of the situation was starting to sink in. He didn't want to die. He couldn't stand to fail Mercedes, Lania and Aurora, and the world.

  
"I'm going to go see if it's our engines, see if Onoras did some drunken 'maint' again," the older dawn warrior said.

  
"Is anyone on this ship competent?" Mercedes asked. No one said anything for a moment.

  
"There has to be something we can do," Luminous said. He forced himself to think. Even with the three of them -- he was pretty sure the crew couldn't manipulate Erda -- could they slow down the ship by manipulating its makeup? But that could easily be riskier than falling. Slowing the ship's fall through conventional magic was possible and less risky, but Luminous knew he didn't have the time, power, or experience. He couldn't even ask for help; the only other magician on the ship was the battle mage, and Luminous got the distinct impression that they cared very little for traditional magical study. That still left teleportation as an option. Unfortunately, teleporting while knowing neither the precise origin nor the precise destination was even riskier than Erda manipulation.

  
He didn't know how much longer they would fall, but he knew he was running out of time. Forcing himself to think under pressure was making it more difficult to focus. He needed to calm down and keep a cool head. Even if his brain was running on overdrive and getting nowhere, at least he could keep himself from panicking.

  
"Well, I'm all ears," Phantom said. "It would certainly be a shame if half of the heroes of legend died to something as simple as gravity."

  
"If you can shield against a blast, can you shield against the ground?" Mercedes asked.

  
"I doubt it would do much good. The sudden change in acceleration is going to be there regardless, even if I make something with some give, and I'm not sure --" Luminous started.

  
"It's better than nothing. We don't know how much time we have. Just do it. Phantom, make yourself useful and do what he does." Mercedes crossed her arms.

  
"If the lady insists," Phantom said.

  
"I cannot keep anything like that up for long; I would need to cast the spell just before we hit --"

  
"Luminous, stop making excuses and do it. I for one don't want to die before I have the chance to put at least one arrow straight through the Black Mage's excuse for a heart." Luminous winced. He wasn't sure of the plan, but he could _not_ risk letting Mercedes be killed.

  
If he did this, he would have almost no magic remaining, and wouldn't be able to fight the Black Mage.

  
But they wouldn't be _alive_ to fight the Black Mage if he didn't do something. And even if protecting Mercedes and the ship drained both him and Phantom to the point where they would be completely useless in a fight, Mercedes would still be safe and able to continue the fight. She could see it through. She could protect everyone in Elluel, and the world. And, most importantly, she would be all right.

  
There were no better ideas. There had to be a better plan, but there was no time to think of one.

  
He made a temporary barrier around the ship. He was used to hard barriers, so it was difficult to make this one with some 'give' to function almost as a cushion. Landing was _still_ going to hurt so much, but he couldn't focus on that. Fear would only weaken his spell. Phantom was copying his every move. He pushed down anger. This was the best shot they had. He couldn't afford to let his personal grievances get in the way.

  
He knew his focus should have been entirely on the spell, but he couldn't help glancing around.

  
He saw the younger dawn warrior cling to the temple keeper like a child clinging to their mother. He was almost certain he heard her whimper 'mommy'.

  
Inside, the corsair was at the controls again, with a pained but determined expression on her face. She was holding onto the wheel so tightly her knuckles were white. The battle mage was prepping some defensive spells, but Luminous knew they would do little good.

  
Mercedes was standing right next to him, but she was looking out ahead over the bow of the ship. She appeared regal and composed, but he could see the tension in her shoulders. She glanced back at him for a second to give him a longing look before turning back ahead.

  
Mercedes. He had to make this work. Even if this wasn't how magic normally worked or what this spell was meant to be used for, he had to make it work for her sake. He would tolerate nothing less than perfection.

  
He closed his eyes for a second as he poured all he had into the barrier.

  
And then they struck ground. The barrier slowed them a bit at the end, but he knew it wasn't enough. Luminous heard crunching and crackling noises as the spell and his focus were shattered.

  
Then he felt _pain_.

  
He didn't know just how badly he or anyone else was hurt. He didn't doubt he needed healing, and imagined others did too. He focused what very little mana and focus he had left into a wave of healing light over the local area.

  
The strain of it nearly caused him to pass out, but he needed to see if Mercedes was all right before he could rest, and that determination kept him conscious, if barely.

  
It was dark and he couldn't see anything, but he could hear some grumbling and groaning around him.

  
"Mercedes? Mercedes!" No reply. He felt weak from worry, but forced himself through it. He could not rest until he knew she was safe.

  
Even almost completely drained, he was still the magician of light. He could push himself past his limits to illuminate the area. He made a small light in his palm and looked around.

  
It looked like everyone on the deck had been thrown off the ship. Mercedes was a few meters in front of him.

  
She wasn't moving at all, and there was a small pool of blood around her head.

  
_Oh, no...!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we are, the start of another piece in this series! It took longer than expected. The changes at work have been killing me. I'm not sure if I mean that literally or figuratively.
> 
> Things should get better in a week or two, which is unfortunate, because I've been drawing on the pain and suffering caused by the changes so I can better outline and write out what I have planned for the characters in this story.
> 
> Next chapter should be up Friday/Saturday-ish.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shame doesn't exist in this fanfic. If I had a sense of shame, I would have stopped at the bonus chapter of The Home Front.
> 
> Anyway, let the bodies hit the floor. Hope you didn't get too attached to anyone.

Mercedes woke up to a feeling of light inside her head, something hard at her back, and _pain_ all around.

  
"Uugh." It took her a few seconds to realize that it was _her_ groaning and not someone else.

  
"Mercedes?" She recognized that voice. Luminous. His voice was quiet and concerned, but it had a slight roughness, almost as if he had been crying. The light inside her head stopped, and she realized absently that it must have been from him healing her.

  
"Luminous. What happened? Where are we?" She thought she was using a normal speaking tone, but her own voice came out too loud and echoed painfully in her ears. Through the echoing, she could make out Luminous giving a sigh of relief.

  
"We appear to be trapped in a labyrinth of some sort," Luminous explained. Mercedes forced her eyes open slightly and tried to sit up to look around, but she couldn't muster the strength to do much more than lift her head. Even just those few centimeters of movement sent her head spinning, and she fought to bring herself back. "Wait, no, rest, please--" Luminous's voice was tight, and she saw him reach out as if to ease her back down, but he stopped with his hands a few centimeters from her shoulders and head.

  
"Ugh." There was no use fighting it. She let her head back down and closed her eyes.

  
"Mercedes?"

  
"I'll be fine." She didn't feel it, but she didn't want to worry him. "So, what happened?"

  
"The ship crashed. I apologize; I couldn't protect you. I tried --" The ship. What ship? Abraxas? No. That had been months ago. Right. The Cygnus ship. Trying to remember _hurt_.

  
"Well, I'm still alive, at least, and your healing is much appreciated." She winced, then reached up to feel around the worst pain in her head. She felt cloth rather than hair under her hand, and it was wet. She pulled her hand back to look at it, but in the dim light, she couldn't make out color. Still, given the context, she was pretty sure it was blood. "It's so dark." She didn't realize until afterward that she'd said it aloud. She felt like the only light was the lingering sensation of light _inside_ her head from healing. She couldn't even see her surroundings, but she knew that Luminous was there and she trusted him to keep her safe.

  
"I know. I'm sorry."

  
"Where is everyone else?" There must have been other people, but she couldn't quite recall who.

  
"... Out scouting." Luminous hesitated a bit, so Mercedes knew he was hiding something. She didn't quite trust her own judgment at the moment, and she didn't feel like she had a good grasp of the situation, but he was a horrible liar.

  
"Who did we lose?" She was in no mood for evasions, and she knew in her heart that he wouldn't try to hide good news from her.

  
"The engineer and two Cygnus Knights. I'm sorry." The knowledge floated in, but she didn't allow herself to fully process it. There were other matters that needed to be settled.

  
"Then everyone else?" She could remember the roster of the ship now, she believed. There had been several Cygnus Knights and a Temple Keeper. Who had piloted? It hadn't been the knights, so who...?

  
"Out scouting."

  
"Really? Even the Temple Keeper? I thought they focused on healing."

  
"They went in pairs. Only Phantom insisted upon working alone." Phantom. He had been on the ship? Right. The rescue mission. Neinheart. And there was something else important that she couldn't quite remember.

  
"Ugh. I see. When will they be back?"

  
"I don't know. ... I lost track of time." He sounded so vulnerable for a moment.

  
"Luminous..."

  
"I feared you'd never wake up fully, or even at all. I... nothing else seemed important."

  
"Well, I'm awake, and I'll be fine." She didn't want to worry him. She couldn't afford to be weak. If nothing else, she was the Ruler of the Elves, and had that dignity to maintain. She tried to get up again to prove she would be all right, but, if possible, she felt _worse_ than she had the first attempt. She had just enough warning to turn her head to the side before she threw up. The strain of it sent her reeling.

  
"Mercedes...!" She got herself back together just in time to see Luminous tear off part of his cloak and hand it to her. "Here." _So much for dignity..._ While she wiped off her face, he worked on cleaning up the mess on the ground, only pausing to pour out and hand her a cup of clean water.

  
After a minute or so, she felt mostly clean again, but she still felt queasy.

  
"How are you feeling?" Luminous asked.

  
"Not keen on moving. Otherwise, about as well as can be expected."

  
"Then just rest. We have sufficient supplies to last us for days."

  
"... How bad is it?"

  
"How bad is what?"

  
"My injuries." Given how awful she felt, and how she _continued_ to feel that awful between her own elven vitality _and_ Luminous healing her for who knew how long, she imagined this was much worse than anything she'd seen in a long time.

  
"I do not know. I've been healing what I can, but I'm not a medical professional, and I cannot diagnose anything."

  
"Did the temple keeper look at me, then?"

  
"A bit. She simply told me to 'keep doing what you're doing'."

  
"That doesn't sound like her."

  
"She was shaken. Losing the others was... difficult for her."

  
"... I see," Mercedes said. She closed her eyes tightly to ward off a sudden dizzy spell, but the added tension made her head hurt. "Ugh."

  
"Mercedes?"

  
"I'm fine." Exhaustion was starting to hit her.

  
"If there is anything I can do, please do not hesitate to ask."

  
"Just... stay here." She wanted the comfort of knowing he was there, beyond anything else.

  
"Of course."

  
Mercedes let herself drift off again. Time slid away. Detaching herself from the world around her also numbed the pain slightly, which she was immensely grateful for. She could hear Luminous talking, and wondered absently if the others had returned. After what felt like a few minutes of listening to him but hearing no other voices, she recognized the pattern and rhythm of his speech. He was reciting spells, not talking to other people.

  
She found it pleasant and peaceful to listen to. She could almost fall asleep to it. He was _there_ , and being able to hear him was an added level of comfort and reassurance.

  
Then there was light again, but this time it was outside of her head rather than inside of it, and it was painfully, almost blindingly bright. She winced.

  
"Mercedes? What's wrong?"

  
"Turn that down a bit."

  
"Oh. Forgive me, I forgot --" The light abruptly dimmed, and it took Mercedes's eyes a few seconds to adjust.

  
"What have you been doing?"

  
"I've been attempting to heal." Mercedes looked at him. Now that there _was_ light -- dim light, but still brighter than when she had first woken up -- she could get a good look. He seemed beyond exhausted. There were dark circles under his eyes, and he looked like he was fighting sleep and could lose that battle any second. Through the exhaustion, she could read pain and worry in his expression. His face was a bit dusty, but she could see tracks from tears on his cheeks. _Luminous_...

  
"Healing me or you?"

  
"You, of course."

  
"Look after yourself, too." Now that she thought of it, she was pretty sure he wasn't fully healed from the battle for Elluel, let alone from whatever injuries he might have sustained in the crash. And if he looked almost as awful as she felt...

  
"Mercedes, I only have so much magic, and --"

  
"Luminous, please. If you're hurt too, you need --"

  
"None of my injuries are serious. I'll be fine. You need help more than I do." Injuries. Plural. If Mercedes hadn't been worried before, she was now.

  
"That's not for you to decide."

  
"Actually, it is."

  
"Ugh, whatever. How is everyone else? Were they...?" If she and Luminous were both injured, she wondered if anyone else had been hurt.

  
"They sustained minor injuries, for the most part." Luminous paused, then winced. "Other than the three who were below deck at the time of the crash, of course." It still hadn't really sunk in that three of their teammates were dead. She didn't _want_ it to sink it. She was fine just mentally acknowledging it but refusing to emotionally acknowledge it.

  
To distract herself, she focused on her surroundings, now that there was enough light to see them. She knew she was lying down on something, but it seemed her head and shoulders were propped up on supplies, and she was covered up to her waist in a slightly singed blanket. The air currents made it feel she was outdoors, but she could see walls around her, and the air tasted stale and artificial. Almost everything was an ugly, unnatural shade of off-green. She could see some wreckage of the ship out of the corners of her eyes, but she knew better than to turn her head to get a better look. She knew she wouldn't like what she saw, and she didn't want to risk throwing up again.

  
She was glad only Luminous had seen that earlier. Phantom probably would have made some unwelcome remarks. And on that note...

  
"What about Phantom? Is he all right?"

  
"He was completely unscathed." Luminous sounded a bit bitter and a bit jealous.

  
"That's good. Ow."

  
"Are you all right?"

  
"I'm fine. It just hurts. What's wrong with me, other than my head?" She knew she had asked a similar question before, but it hardly seemed to matter.

  
"I don't know. I'm sorry."

  
"You're doing your best." _And I appreciate you being here for me,_ Mercedes added silently. Since asking wasn't an option, she tried to mentally go over herself. Her head hurt. A lot. She still felt queasy and weak and her mind was foggy. Her right forearm hurt from her wrist to her elbow, but it felt like a bad bruise and nothing worse. After all, she had made use of that arm when she had been cleaning herself off, and hadn't run into any problems. She moved it around experimentally, then winced. _Yep, that's a bruise_.

  
"Allow me --" Luminous started, reaching out but stopping himself.

  
"It's fine. Work on yourself." She _wanted_ him to heal her head, but he had obviously already been trying, and it wasn't urgent. She would live.

  
... And then she remembered that she needed to be _more_ than just alive. She had let herself feel at ease -- besides the pain and misery of course -- because Luminous was there, but they were in hostile territory. There could be monsters, and she might need to fight. Unfortunately, she was in no condition for it at the moment, unless --

  
Her guns. Where were her guns? She felt around her hips for them but couldn't find them. She tore the blanket away to look and confirmed her fears.

  
"Where are my weapons!?" Mercedes demanded.

  
"Right here." Luminous pointed to them, about a meter away, carefully set down on a spread-out sheet of canvas.

  
"Why are they there? Either they came off in the crash, or..." She felt vulnerable and upset at the prospect that someone had taken her bowguns from her. At least they had left her holsters on.

  
"Mercedes, you were unconscious for..." Luminous broke off. "... A very long time. And when you first started to come around, you weren't... I feared you'd injure yourself. I took them away. I'm sorry." She was indignant, but at least it had been _Luminous_ and not someone else. And he looked appropriately ashamed.

  
She accepted them wordlessly when he handed them to her. Once they were back where they belonged, Luminous picked up the blanket and handed it to her, and she pulled it back over herself.

  
"I'm assuming there haven't been any signs of the Black Mage," Mercedes said, after a while.

  
"None. No monsters either, fortunately."

  
"Let's hope that fortune holds until the others get back."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I probably won't have time to get any writing done until the 13th, so don't expect Chapter 3 up before then. I *might* catch a break and be able to update sooner, but don't count on it.


	3. Chapter 3

"Luminous? Are you awake?" Mercedes asked. Luminous picked his head up off the ground to look over at her.

  
"Yes, I'm merely resting. Is something the matter?" He was beyond exhausted, but lying on his back and closing his eyes for a few minutes in between checks on both Mercedes and the camp perimeter was the closest thing to sleep that he would allow himself.

  
"No, you just hadn't moved in a while, so I wasn't sure if..."

  
"I'm fine, but thank you." Luminous tried not to make too many grunts and groans as he pulled himself up to a sitting position. He supposed it was about time to check the camp perimeter again.

  
He didn't want to worry Mercedes, but he couldn't deny that the landing had been difficult for him, too. His old injuries hurt worse than they had in over a week, and it was possible one of his ribs was cracked again. He was nearly certain he didn't have any internal injuries this time, at least. He didn't want to go through that again, especially since he knew he didn't have enough magic to heal anything life-threatening. What little mana had regenerated since the crash, he had been using to heal Mercedes and ward the campsite.

  
As far as new injuries went, he was covered in cuts, bruises, and minor burns. His spell right after the crash had mostly healed them, but some still hurt. The worst new injury was to his leg. He didn't think it was broken; he could walk, but not without limping.

  
His leg was the main reason he was staying with Mercedes at the camp. He and Phantom had discussed who would stay with Mercedes and who would go out scouting, and they had eventually agreed that, because of his injury, Luminous would be better off staying at the camp. He hated using it as an excuse, but at least it meant he could be there for Mercedes. Not only did he want to be the one to help care for her, but he could heal her better than Phantom could. They were both drained of mana, but Luminous's healing abilities came from _himself_ rather than from copying others.

  
There had been a third option, of course, but neither of them had wanted to have the temple keeper stay with Mercedes. She, too, was drained; she had poured everything she had into trying to save their companions. And while neither Luminous nor Phantom had any reason to distrust her, she was still a relative stranger and neither of them felt comfortable leaving Mercedes with her.

  
That said, Luminous almost wished she had stayed. While he had the magical knowledge, experience, and power to heal, he had precious little medical knowledge beyond basic first-aid. That had been enough to see him through almost every situation he had found himself in, but he knew that head injuries could be especially difficult, and he could not risk having something happen to Mercedes because he didn't know what he was doing.

  
All he was doing was working off what little he remembered from his days in Aurora and from what advice he had gotten from a local doctor when Lania had gotten a concussion from slipping on ice.

  
What Mercedes had was almost certainly worse than a concussion.

  
Because of that, he had to be constantly on guard in case anything else came up or any complications arose. He had panicked the first time she had drifted off, and actually started crying before he realized she was just sleeping. He hoped she hadn't seen or noticed.

  
He hoped she also seen or noticed their covered up companions. Being told that someone was dead was one thing. Seeing their body was another. He didn't want to put her through that. They hadn't been her people, but he still didn't want to see her hurt. Luminous had to keep stopping himself from looking over at them, himself.

  
Every time he did, he couldn't help but think about how the thunder breaker couldn't have been more than a few years older than Lania. Lania... he could only hope she was safe.

  
He didn't know how much time they had left to stop the Black Mage and save the world, but there was nothing he could do except watch and wait and keep an eye on Mercedes. The Black Mage wasn't there, after all. Even if he had been, Luminous knew that neither he nor Mercedes were in any condition to fight him.

  
He felt useless. If nothing else, he wanted to be able to provide for Mercedes during her injury the way she had for him, but there was so little he could do. He barely had the magic to heal her from time to time, and even then, he needed to keep some small reserve of magic to protect them from monsters.

  
Just as he thought that, he felt some of the traps he had set up around the campsite trigger. He pulled himself to his feet and drew his weapon. Mercedes sent him a questioning look.

  
"We have some unwelcome guests," Luminous explained. He could sense the monsters now. There seemed to be quite a few. Not all of his traps had been triggered and not all his wards had been exhausted yet, but he imagined they would fall shortly.

  
Mercedes tried to grab her guns and stand up, but staggered. Luminous reached her side just in time to catch her and help her sit back down.

  
"I'll keep you safe. It's the least I can do," he assured her. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see some vulture-like monsters approaching. There were even more than he thought.

  
"You can't be everywhere at once, Luminous." Mercedes didn't try to stand again, but she still had her weapons drawn.

  
"I know that." He didn't _need_ to be everywhere at once. He just needed to protect the two of them. In a perfect world, he'd be able to protect the campsite, too, but low on mana and with an injured leg, he couldn't risk trying.

  
As soon as the first monster was within range, he started fighting. He couldn't afford to be reckless with his magic; he needed every last drop of mana. That meant carefully shaping his spells to _only_ hit the monsters, not empty space. Doing so at his level of exhaustion was another battle, but he had no choice.

  
In other circumstances, he would resort to weaving in melee attacks to spare his mana, but pain kept him from doing so.

  
Even though he was only defending himself and Mercedes, he still had to move. He needed to line his spells up properly and draw some of the monsters' attention away from Mercedes. Walking around caused more than enough pain on its own.

  
He just had to keep putting one foot in front of the other and keep casting one spell at a time.

  
He didn't know when Mercedes joined the fight, but at some point, she started shooting. She didn't move from where she was sitting, but she loosed arrow after arrow at the oncoming monsters. He wanted to tell her that he could keep her safe and that she didn't need to fight, but he knew that he needed all the help he could get. Beyond that, if she wanted to fight, it wasn't his place to stop her.

  
He couldn't even draw on his anger at the Black Mage to give him the strength to keep fighting. These monsters didn't _feel_ like the Black Mage the way the ones attacking Elluel had. If he had the time and energy to spare, he would have tried to figure out why that was, but keeping Mercedes safe took all his attention.

  
The battle felt like it dragged on for hours, but Luminous knew it probably only lasted for fifteen minutes or so and only seemed to last so long because he was so exhausted to begin with.

  
Finally, the monsters started to thin. He was too tired to sense if any more were coming, but his eyes told him they were almost done. And just in time; he had no mana to spare.

  
Once he felt confident he had cleared out the last of them, he turned and walked back to Mercedes. He had just opened his mouth to ask how she was doing when something hit him in the back. His balance was off because his weight was on his bad leg for that step, and he fell forward.

  
He heard a shot just as he hit the ground.

  
"Luminous! Are you okay?"

  
"I-I'm fine." Luminous winced as he got to his knees. It hurt, but he didn't think that the new injury, whatever it was, was serious. He turned to look behind him, and saw one of the vulture-like monsters with a magic arrow sticking out of it. "Are there any other monsters?" If he had missed one, what if he had missed others?

  
"Not that I can see, no."

  
"Good." Luminous pulled himself to his feet and took the last few steps over to where Mercedes was. Once there, he tried to sit down carefully, but ended up nearly falling and landing heavily. "Are you all right?" Luminous asked through clenched teeth.

  
"I'm fine." Mercedes brought one hand up to the side of her head. "My head hurts, but there's nothing that can be done about that." Luminous _wished_ he could help. He _wished_ he could take care of her and ease her pain, but there was nothing more he could do for her. "... Luminous." She suddenly sounded concerned, and he noticed that she seemed focused on his back.

  
"Yes?"

  
"You're bleeding."

  
"... Oh." If she was worried, then perhaps he shouldn't have just shrugged it off, and the injury was more serious than he had initially presumed.

  
"Why don't you heal yourself?"

  
"I cannot."

  
"Why not?"

  
"I lack the mana and energy." He had nothing left. He needed rest, badly. And, by the sound of it, his back seen to as well. He reached up to feel around the injury. His first thought was that his clothes were going to be ruined. It hurt to touch, but not too badly. In addition, he could breathe and move his arms just fine, though that bad rib still caused some problems. He supposed that it wasn't a serious wound, but without magic, infection was still a risk, so it was best not to leave it untreated.

  
"Let me take care of it, then."

  
"Mercedes --"

  
"I felt useless that fight; the least I can do is help you out now. Besides, back injuries are hard to get to on your own."

  
"Mercedes, you were hardly useless!" He didn't know how she could even think that. She had still fought, even injured. He just wished she hadn't had to fight at all. If only he could provide for her. "And thank you. I'll get the supplies." He didn't want her having to walk. Besides, he knew the layout of the campsite well enough; he'd paid close attention while it was being set up.

  
He dragged himself to his feet and made his way over to where the first aid supplies were kept. He was relieved to note that the monsters hadn't made much of a mess. That said, he could feel Mercedes's eyes on him as he moved. He gave her a questioning look.

  
"You're limping."

  
"I know."

  
"Are you sure you should be on your feet?"

  
"I'm fine." Between the two of them, he was still better off than she was. He set the supplies down next to her, then sat down with his back facing her.

  
"I can't get at the injury with your clothes in the way." Luminous briefly debated whether he should take off his tunic or just ask her to cut away the clothing around the area. Between the damage from the crash and the bloodstains, the clothes were probably a lost cause at that point, anyway. At least his bag from the ship had survived and he had a change of clothes in there.

  
"Would you like me to remove them?" He supposed his course of action depended upon what Mercedes was comfortable with.

  
"That would probably be best." Luminous nodded his understanding, then pulled off his tunic and set it to the side. "Okay, I can see it now. Are you ready?"

  
"Yes."

  
He could feel Mercedes cleaning out the injury, but found that, compared to everything else, at least, he didn't mind the pain. He felt sleepy. He had been tired, but now he was sleepy. He wondered if it was because he felt safe with her there at his back looking out for him. Still, he couldn't let himself rest just yet. He needed to keep an eye out for monsters, especially since all his wards and traps were gone.

  
Unfortunately, willpower could only go so far.

  
"Luminous?" He shook himself awake as he realized he had literally been nodding off and starting to fall forward.

  
"I'm sorry, Mercedes. I should be more aware."

  
"You're tired."

  
"Yes, but I should be keeping watch in the event that --"

  
"Don't worry about it. I can keep watch instead."

  
"But you --" She was still badly hurt. He was bruised and battered, but that was much less of a concern than any brain injury.

  
"I'll wake you if anything comes up. Trust me." He trusted her, but he didn't want to burden her. At the same time, it had probably been well over a day since he had slept, and he was so tired.

  
"Mercedes..." He couldn't fight sleep anymore. He was vaguely aware of falling, and that was it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope to have the next chapter up some time in the next few days to a week. I have no idea when. Everything is on fire, time isn't real, and I passed exhausted six exits ago on the right.
> 
> ... Which is pretty similar to what Mercedes and Luminous are going through, so maybe that'll help me write better. Hopefully.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few notes:
> 
> 1\. After looking through my screenshots, I realize that the in-game Labyrinth doesn't get that sickly greenish color until close to the end/center (I just remembered it that way because I am Bad and got stuck on the boss so I saw a lot of it). But I'm not going to rewrite what I have so far. We'll just say that the cast of the fic landed closer than the in-game crew did.
> 
> 2\. It is perfectly acceptable to be disappointed in me given the transition between the end of last chapter and the beginning of this one. You all are free to do as you wish with your imaginations, but I am, unfortunately, ill-equipped to write what some of you might have been hoping for. So instead, enjoy more plot, and thank you for bearing with me.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this," Mercedes said. She pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders. " _None_ of it was supposed to be like this. We should be fighting, not waiting around."

  
"I must confess I've been becoming somewhat impatient, as well," Luminous said, briefly taking a break from healing her head to speak. "But we cannot face the Black Mage as we are. It is just as well we must wait."

  
"Yeah, I know, strength in numbers, and neither of us are in great shape right now, but... we're so close. Yet here we are, sitting on a pile of wreckage that used to be a Cygnus Knight ship, waiting on Phantom and the others to get back from scouting. We're _at his doorstep_ , but all we're doing is killing time."

  
"Would you rather be killing monsters, then? I know I certainly wouldn't, considering how our last battle unfolded." Luminous resumed his healing, and Mercedes closed her eyes and tried to focus on the light inside her head from the magic rather than her own pain and frustration.

  
Her thoughts wandered regardless. She didn't have the energy to stop them. If possible, her head had felt _worse_ since the battle. It probably hadn't been a very good idea to fight with a head injury, and _then_ keep watch for hours afterward, but it had kept them alive and safe.

  
Luminous had clearly needed the rest, after all, given that he'd fallen asleep next to her without even bothering to put his shirt back on first. Eventually, to keep him warm, and to keep herself from being distracted, she'd given him her blanket.

  
It felt like he had slept for at least half a day, but he was awake again, so it was her turn to rest.

  
She had been sleeping on and off in the hours since. She hated feeling useless, but Luminous kept reminding her that she had already done so much more than should have been expected of her with her injury. Other than that, he had mostly been leaving her alone to sleep, but he occasionally offered her food, water, or healing. She couldn't keep track of how many times that had happened.

  
"How long has it been?" Mercedes asked. She realized after the fact that she'd offered no context.

  
"I do not know. Days since we landed, perhaps?" Well, at least he guessed her question correctly, even if he had to pause healing to speak. She really needed to remember to stop distracting him while he was casting.

  
"My head's all foggy. I can't keep track of time like this."

  
"Understandable. There is no day or night here, and we've no other way of measuring time. It's affecting me, too."

  
"I hope the others get back soon." If it really had been days, she was beginning to worry that they might not return at all.

  
"I agree, but at least we have each other." Luminous focused

  
"That's the most important thing." She didn't want to think about how awful it could be if she were trapped here, injured, _without_ Luminous there with her. Beyond what he was doing for her, it was such a relief to just _have_ someone there.

  
That said, her resolve was starting to falter. She didn't want to think about it, but not only was it possible the others might not return, it was entirely possible that she and Luminous could die here. She hadn't asked him about the state of their supplies because she had the feeling she wouldn't like the answer.

  
They had managed to fight off a large group of monsters, and while they'd had some time to recover, they were both still injured and exhausted. They were no match for the Black Mage. They were better-equipped to fight monsters than the standard adventurer, even in their weakened states, but they wouldn't be of much use in saving the world.

  
The only comfort was that if they did die, they would die together.

  
She didn't want that to happen, obviously. Her people were counting on her to get through this, no matter what was thrown at her, and to keep them safe.

  
She missed them, and all of Elluel. She wished she could see them again. She wished she could _fight_ , and _win_ , and go back to her home with her people instead of being trapped in this unnatural hell pit. Everything reeked of death. Not even natural death. It hurt her as an elf.

  
A sudden idea struck her.

  
"Luminous, I want you to make a light." He had been keeping dim lights up around the campsite for visibility, but had been avoiding anything bright.

  
"I thought it hurt your head?"

  
"Just do it."

  
"Very well. I've done as much healing as I'm capable of for now, anyway." Luminous pulled his hands away from her head and moved around from behind her to beside her. "Where would you like me to put it?"

  
"Anywhere, really."

  
It did hurt, but it was light, and it was there, and Luminous was there. it was something to remind her of home, of peace. She leaned against him with her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. Even if she couldn't see it with her eyes closed, she knew it was there, and she knew _he_ was there. After a few minutes, he leaned against her, too.

  
"I'm glad you're here, Luminous." _I love you_ , she caught herself thinking. She wondered if she'd had that thought before. Important, precious, dear to one another... they'd told each other how important they were to each other, but they've always danced around the subject of love.

  
"I'm grateful for your presence, as well." ... Even if he had his... own way of saying things.

  
Well, there was no sense in rushing things. She didn't want to complicate things. They had a comfortable dynamic as it was and a battle ahead of them, fate willing. They didn't need any distractions.

  
Saving the world came first. Her feelings could wait.

  
They always had to, after all. Sometimes they even had to wait until it was too late. _Freud_... she winced and pushed it away. That was in the past. She needed to focus on the present, and if they could manage it, the future.

  
She heard Luminous yawn, and opened her eyes.

  
"Are you tired again?" Mercedes asked.

  
"I'm fine," Luminous replied. She looked him over skeptically. His expression was a bit vacant, and he looked exhausted, but not as bad as he had been before. That said, she had to wonder how much of that had to do with him _actually_ being less tired and how much had to do with the fact that he'd had a chance to wash his face and shave at some point. They had been trying to conserve water, but hygiene and morale were important, so she couldn't blame him. She could use a wash herself at some point if they could spare the water.

  
"You can rest if you'd like. I can keep watch again." She was tired and foggy, but he was doing so much for her. The least she could do was to return the favor.

  
"I appreciate your concern, but you need rest more than I do."

  
"But won't you get your mana back faster if you sleep? We need your magic, you know." Mercedes knew that, since he'd had his rest, he'd made some wards around the campsite again in addition to healing her, but to the best of her knowledge, he hadn't done anything to heal himself.

  
"While that is true, the difference in the rate of mana regeneration isn't large enough to justify forcing you to keep watch."

  
"It wouldn't be _forcing_ me. I offered. And still, just for a little while."

  
"... I suppose you're right," Luminous admitted.

  
Mercedes didn't know how long they stayed there. She wasn't sure if Luminous actually managed to fall asleep or not. After a few minutes, she could feel any tension in his shoulders release, and his breathing came deep and evenly, but the light in front of them was still going, so she imagined he was at least somewhat awake to maintain it.

  
She almost wanted to ask him to dim it to make things easier on her, but not only did she not want to wake him if he was sleeping, she had better visibility with it on. Besides, she could push herself a bit. They weren't getting out of there without the others, anyhow, and once Phantom and the others did return, she'd have a chance to rest.

  
She could do this.

  
After a few more minutes, she noticed movement. She didn't want to draw her weapons and move and wake up Luminous, but she also couldn't afford to let a potential threat slide. She tried to find the source of the movement before she did anything.

  
_Oh._ It wasn't any approaching enemy. The _walls_ just looked like they were moving. It was probably a trick of the light. She relaxed.

  
Still, it was movement, and now that she was aware of it, she had trouble taking her focus off it. With focus came thought, and she realized that attributing it to the lighting didn't make sense. She remembered that the lighting -- both the dim lights and the bright light in front of her -- were steady rather than flickering. That _shouldn't_ cause the illusion of movement. _Maybe I hit my head harder than I thought._ But no, that didn't make sense either. Head injuries didn't normally work like that.

  
She could ask Luminous to check her perception. She didn't want to wake him, but if she was seeing things, she couldn't be trusted to keep watch. She didn't want him to doubt her sanity, but at the same time, if there _was_ something wrong with her, it was better to know than not.

  
"Hey, Luminous."

  
"Hm?"

  
"Are the walls supposed to be moving?" Luminous sat up a bit straighter, and Mercedes picked her head up off his shoulder to look at him.

  
"Oh, do you see it, too?" He sounded a bit embarrassed, and scratched the back of his neck. Maybe he was thinking the same thing that she was. Maybe they were both wondering if they were going crazy.

  
"... Is this why we haven't heard back from our scouts yet?" The situation was beginning to sink in with a feeling of creeping dread.

  
"... Quite possibly."

  
"... Just our luck." Mercedes sighed. Part of her almost wanted to give in to despair and rely on Luminous to catch her, but she had to stay strong.

  
"Well, I imagine they _should_ come back, since one of them is _Phantom_. I highly doubt he'd be fooled by something so simple as changing terrain." At least he was there to comfort her even if she didn't make it known how badly she needed it.

  
"Yeah, this is true. He can be incredibly persistent." Mercedes wondered if Phantom had ever encountered anything like that before on one of his heists. Some people in Maple World went to incredible lengths to deter thieves and guard their treasures, after all. "He _is_ probably fine. But I worry about the others."

  
"There is nothing we can do."

  
"I know," Mercedes muttered. Thoughts of Elluel drifted into her mind again. Home. Time they spent here waiting was time the Black Mage's minions could be using to destroy it.

  
But no, she had to trust Athena to keep Maple World safe. She had to trust Phantom and the scouts to come back safely, and with directions, so they could get to and fight the Black Mage and put an end to this madness.

  
She heard crunching and crackling behind her. Both she and Luminous got to their feet, though they struggled a bit, between her balance and his leg injury. Eventually, they managed to help each other up. Once standing, she turned to look over at the source of the sound with bowguns drawn.

  
The source of the sound was through the pile of wreckage. She couldn't see above it. But Luminous was a little taller. Maybe he could see what was going on.

She turned to him.

  
"Oh, no." That wasn't encouraging.

  
"What's going on?"

  
"The walls are overtaking the campsite."

  
"Can you stop them?"

  
"At full power, perhaps. As it is now, not a chance."

  
"Well, maybe they'll stop." She had to hold onto hope. She couldn't let this place break her, even if her wandering thoughts kept betraying her. "Do the walls stop moving?"

  
"I do not know. The ones I'd seen move previously have been farther down, and I did not have enough visibility most of the time to monitor them." Luminous winced. "We might need to relocate."

  
"Let's salvage what we can and get ready to move, then." _Phantom, this would be a really good time for you to show up!_

  
"I can take care of it. You need your rest."

  
"Luminous, neither of us are in great shape right now. I don't want you burning yourself out trying to help me. I can pull my own weight. I'll take care of the food, all right?" Mercedes hoped the walls would stop nothing would come of it. She hoped they wouldn't have to move more than a few meters. Relocating would make it even _more_ difficult for the others to find them. Beyond that, after pushing herself a bit by keeping watch again, helping to pack up and move would probably be too much for her. She just couldn't let Luminous get hurt pushing himself too far, either.

  
It was all they could do until the others came back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, that took a bit longer than expected. Life is a grand adventure, and it doesn't always go as planned. The good news is, I have the rough drafts for chapters 5 and 6 almost done, so those should be up sooner rather than later.


	5. Chapter 5

Luminous stopped walking for a moment to re-adjust the things he was carrying and to briefly stretch. Mercedes stopped next to him and gave him a questioning look.

  
"I'm fine. Shall we continue?" He didn't want to worry her, but he also didn't want to deny her rest if she was ready for a break.

  
"Yeah. The farther away we get from... _that_... the better." Mercedes shuddered.

  
"Agreed." Luminous started walking again, and Mercedes followed him.

  
They had initially planned to just relocate the campsite a few meters, but due to changing circumstances, both Luminous and Mercedes had agreed to get as far away from the former location of the campsite as possible.

  
Luminous liked to think he was fairly level-headed and able to face down danger unflinchingly. Mercedes had dealt with many difficult situations over her long reign, and Luminous never once questioned her bravery. That didn't mean either of them _wanted_ to be haunted by the... things... the slain crew members had turned into after the walls had moved in over their bodies.

  
They had gathered what supplies they could carry and started walking.

  
It was probably for the best that their fear had given them haste. Against his better judgment, Luminous had looked back while they were leaving the camp. The walls had swallowed the entire campsite over the course of a minute or two.

  
There was no going back. What they had on them was all they would have until they rendezvoused with Phantom. _If_ they rendezvoused with Phantom.

  
They were able to salvage far fewer supplies than Luminous would have liked. Mercedes had said that she felt weak and lightheaded, and was only carrying her own gear. The fact that she was complaining _at all_ worried him, and he didn't want to push her even farther past her limits by asking her to carry more.

  
If he could have, he would have offered to carry her, as well, but he only had so much strength himself. As it was, he was carrying his gear, a few days' worth of food and water for both of them, and some bedding and medical supplies. Even that was probably too much for him, especially with his injuries, but since it was all they had, he'd just have to work through it.

  
Estimating how much food they had left was difficult since he couldn't measure the passage of time. He imagined it had been at least several days since they landed, but he had no way of knowing. All he knew was that he and Mercedes had eaten about half the food they'd had when he had taken inventory of it just after the crash, even though he had been doing his best to ration and make it last longer.

  
That made him worry for Phantom and the other scouts. They had only carried about a day's worth of food with them, so he imagined they had run out.

  
Even if the Black Mage's plans would take much longer to come to fruition, _they_ were running out of time.

  
They weren't going to save the world in their current states. If he had the power, he'd teleport them out to safety until they could recover, and hope that they still had time to stop the Black Mage, but he was still so low on mana and so weak. On top of that, he didn't even have a nearby destination he knew he could safely teleport them to if he somehow did manage to find the strength.

  
They were running out of strength and energy. Luminous knew he needed to rest. He needed a chance to get his head together and recover what strength he had left, but he'd had no opportunity yet. He wanted to cover a bit more ground to reassure himself they were safe -- or at least safer -- before he stopped.

  
Mercedes was also showing strain. She shouldn't have been walking around so much to begin with -- and with his leg, he supposed he shouldn't have been, either -- so he imagined she needed rest more than he did.

  
Luminous was about to ask her if she wanted to stop and rest for a bit when he saw her trip. He reached out to help, but she had already dropped her gear to catch herself against the wall.

  
Everything after that happened very quickly.

  
Mercedes's hands started to sink into the wall. She shrieked and pulled back, losing her balance again. She drew her bowguns as she fell. Luminous dropped his gear to catch her by her shoulders. Meanwhile, Mercedes loosed shot after shot into the wall. The first two arrows were absorbed, but the remaining ones ricocheted. Luminous winced as one slid past his head and another grazed the top of his shoulder.

  
"Thanks," Mercedes said, as she shifted her weight back onto her own feet and holstered her weapons. "Y-you saw that, right?"

  
"I did. Are you all right?" Luminous realized he was probably holding onto Mercedes' shoulders a bit tighter than he needed to, and relaxed his grip. He looked over her shoulder at her hands, which she was holding in front of her. He didn't see anything wrong with them, but he couldn't be sure. He decided he'd offer to heal her again once his heart rate settled down and he could focus.

  
"I'm OK. I think. Just shaken." Mercedes clenched and released her hands in front of her.

  
"There are new horrors at every turn, it seems." Luminous tried to force himself to calm down. Between the scare they'd had with the walls, then the bodies of the crew members, and now the walls _again_ , he wasn't sure how much more stress he could take.

  
On top of all that, there was no rescue in sight.

  
A sudden wave of dizziness hit him, and he fell to his knees. Because some of Mercedes' weight was still on him and he hadn't let go, he ended up taking her with him. Even though he didn't fall far, there wasn't any grace in it, and he managed to twist his ankle in a way that sent a sharp spike of pain through his injured leg.

  
"Luminous? Luminous!" He could hear Mercedes shouting, and he blinked back colored dots across his vision.

  
He didn't know what was wrong with him. He was afraid that something was wrong with his magic again and he would hurt Mercedes like he hurt Lania.

  
Lania. Would he ever see her again? And all the people they'd left behind in Maple World? It wasn't just him, either. Mercedes' people needed her. All of Elluel was counting on them, but they were trapped and there was nothing they could do. He fought back tears that caught him by surprise. What was _wrong_ with him?

  
"Luminous, talk to me!" Mercedes. If nothing else, he had to be there for her. He had to keep hanging on.. but it didn't make sense. He wasn't too badly hurt. Her ricochets had just grazed him, correct? Luminous brought one hand up to his head to feel around his head. He could feel a lot of blood coming from a long cut that started just below his hairline, but he knew that scalp injuries tended to bleed heavily. He'd seen worse. " _Talk_ to me. What's wrong?"

  
He couldn't find his voice to reply. Meanwhile, Mercedes turned around to look at him, and her eyes went wide.

  
"You're bleeding! Wait, this looks like... did I -- no, no, oh no." He _had_ to say something. She was near breathless with panic and regret. If only he could say something to reassure her...

  
"Mercedes, I... I'm OK." It was much more difficult than it should have been to get the words from his mind to his mouth, but at least they came out. Unfortunately, Mercedes didn't look any more relaxed.

  
"No, you're not. Oh, spirits, no, Luminous, I'm so sorry. I just can't _think_ straight in this place." Of course she couldn't. He couldn't, either. And it was even more difficult to keep his thoughts on track now that his body seemed to be rebelling against him at every turn.

  
Maybe he needed water. He had been trying to ration, but if he was injured and losing blood, he couldn't _afford_ to ration. Dehydration would just make _everything_ worse. Fluids could even help a bit with shock. Was he in shock? He didn't know. He couldn't afford to be. He _had_ to be all right. He _had_ to be there for Mercedes. Tears prickled at his eyes again. Maybe hunger and thirst and exhaustion and stress were just making emotional control that much more difficult.

  
At least he was reasonably sure now that whatever was wrong with him was physical and emotional and not magical. It was little consolation, but at least it was _something_.

  
Worse pain drew his attention away from his thoughts and back to the world around him. Mercedes was holding him in her arms now with one hand over the injury. He felt fleeting worry about infection risk before he pushed it away. That was the least of his concerns right now.

  
They weren't moving anymore. They didn't have the strength to move. They just laid there on the ground with their supplies and gear scattered around them. They were both injured and shaken. There was no doubt that they were no match for the Black Mage. They probably weren't even a match for a particularly stubborn monster.

  
Luminous resented how weak he was feeling and how quickly his strength had deserted him. He should have been the one helping Mercedes, not the other way around. His actual injuries weren't that serious. All he was doing was worrying her. Why couldn't he just pull himself together?

  
"I'm so sorry, I'm _so_ sorry..." It hurt to see Mercedes like that. It was so unlike her.

  
"Stop, please stop." He wasn't mad at her. He wasn't upset at her at all. He loved her, and it was clearly an accident. He wasn't even badly hurt. He just didn't want to see her torn up about it. He needed to pull himself together. If only he could just _tell_ her that. Why wouldn't his body cooperate? He could think just fine, but getting words from his mind to his mouth was difficult.

  
"I didn't mean to, please forgive me..." Luminous couldn't see Mercedes's face, but she sounded like she was crying. "Even if you can't, just please, please be okay..." _I can't do this to her._

  
"I know you didn't, I don't blame you." He finally managed to get some words out, but once they started, they didn't stop. "I love you." He hadn't meant to say it then, but there was no taking it back.

  
She immediately stopped crying and froze. Luminous felt creeping dread on top of everything else. He'd ruined things, hadn't he? He should have known it wasn't his place. She was a _queen_. They cared deeply for one another, but love was something else, and he had no business saying it, least of all now.

  
Then she pulled him tighter, and he tried not to wince.

  
"I love you, too, Luminous, just please, please don't die." On the one hand, he felt intense relief that he _hadn't_ ruined things. On the other hand, she still sounded so desperate and worried. It was breaking his heart.

  
_I'm not going to die_ , he thought, but he'd lost words again. She was there. They _loved_ each other. He just needed to pull himself together. If only he could heal himself through whatever this was... but he had no strength or focus left, and couldn't even talk reliably.

  
Of all the ways for this to happen...!

  
Maybe if he just rested a bit he'd have the strength to fight. He was comfortable there in her arms. He wasn't too badly injured, so he didn't have to worry if he fell asleep that he'd end up drifting off into something deeper than sleep.

  
"Luminous!" He realized he hadn't replied for a while, and must have drifted off a bit. She sounded near frantic again. "Talk to me. Just stay with me."

  
"I'm here," he managed.

  
"Good, just keep hanging on, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to..." She still sounded so upset. He wished he could comfort her, but as it was, the best thing he could do would be to keep himself awake enough to try to respond and reassure her.

  
He was out of strength, but if he could find enough motivation, maybe he could hang on.

  
Mercedes. He had to be there for her. Lania. She was counting on him. The people of Aurora. He had to survive to avenge them.

  
Unfortunately, all those thoughts did was remind him of home and comfort and how _tired_ he was.

  
She could feel Mercedes' hand in his hair and her arms around him.

  
Maybe if he just rested for a little bit...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 6 should be up soonish (within a few days). I hope. I'm evil, but I'm not evil enough to leave you all off on an ending like that for too long.
> 
> I know they're failing at first aid in this chapter, but neither of them are in a very good headspace and even important things get lost sometimes.
> 
> Things get better from here. Mostly. Probably.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took longer than planned. My physical and mental health both decided to fail me this week, but I'm back for now.

Mercedes didn't want to admit it, but things weren't looking good.

  
She didn't know how much time had passed, but the tingling and numbness in her hands from the wall had long since worn off, and the bleeding from Luminous's injuries had stopped. Unfortunately, it was getting more and more difficult to get him to respond to anything. If that wasn't worrying enough on its own, she also recognized the physical manifestations of shock. And there was nothing she could do about it.

  
She still couldn't believe she'd shot him.

  
How old was she again? She knew better than to shoot at flat surfaces in front of her! She'd learned that lesson, the hard way, years and years ago. She still had the scar as a reminder. But she had panicked, just for a second, and hadn't stopped to think.

  
That was all it had taken.

  
She almost wanted to blame it on some cruel twist of fate. Luminous, after all, had mentioned several times that he was worried about hurting her, but she had never been too concerned about hurting _him_. Instead, she'd been more worried about him getting caught in friendly fire from _other_ sources. Not from her. Never from her. She hadn't even _considered_ the possibility that she might hit him with a ricochet.

  
And now it looked like she would lose him. Just before they could have had a chance to fight the Black Mage. Just _after_ they'd finally gotten things out in the open.

  
They could have had so much to look forward to if only they'd managed to get through the maze. Instead, she had ruined everything.

  
She could never forgive herself.

  
There was nothing she could do anymore. All she could do was keep talking to him in hopes he'd respond and to keep holding onto him as a reminder that they were still _there_ , for however much time they had left.

  
It was only a matter of time before something got them, after all. Either the walls would move in on them, or they'd be attacked by monsters, or the Black Mage would finish his plans, or they'd be approached by some other as-yet-undiscovered horror...

  
Now that she thought of it, she was nearly certain she could hear something approaching. She debated whether she should try to fight or just let it happen.

  
"You look like you need help." Mercedes never thought she'd be that glad to hear Phantom's voice. She picked her head up immediately, just in time to watch him drop down from somewhere on the wall.

  
"Phantom!? Thank goodness, Luminous is --"

  
"Of _course_ he said he'd take care of you, and in the end, you're the one taking care of him."

  
"It's not that, I shot him, and --"

  
"What!?" Phantom froze. "What did he even _do_!?"

  
"Nothing! It ricocheted!"

  
"Let me take a look at him." Mercedes didn't immediately recognize the temple keeper's voice, but she did recognize her when she stepped out from behind Phantom. _A healer. Good. Much better than just Phantom alone._ She highly doubted Phantom would be willing to try to heal Luminous _after_ Luminous had refused to heal him earlier. And even if he did, it would be out of some sort of oneupmanship rather than altruism.

  
She trusted altruism much more.

  
Mercedes moved off to the side slightly so the temple keeper could get to Luminous, but she didn't let go of him and kept an eye on her. That said, Phantom was, for the time being at least, a bigger concern.

  
"Anyway, where were you!? It feels like days since you set out!"

  
"There were some unexpected problems. I'll fill you in on the details later."

  
"Where is everyone else?"

  
"That would be one of the unexpected problems. But enough about us. What about you? It's good to see you back with us, but it seems you haven't had an easy ride, either." Phantom offered her a handkerchief. "If you'd like me to dry those tears for you --" Mercedes didn't let him finish before she snatched it out of his hand. "Stealing from the master thief. Bold."

  
"It's not stealing; you offered it." Mercedes wiped off her face with one hand while still holding onto Luminous. She had been crying so much that her skin felt very sensitive. She was glad she wasn't wearing any makeup, because between the tears and the handkerchief, it would have been totally ruined by that point. "So. Tell me. What happened, what took you so long, and what did you find out?"

  
"The Black Mage is well-hidden. Even I couldn't find anything useful for us to work on. I spent some time searching before, ah... strategically withdrawing, and rounding up these poor lost souls instead."

  
The temple keeper stopped her healing abruptly to turn to glare at Phantom. The sheer fierceness of it took Mercedes by surprise. What could have caused that reaction? Phantom, however, seemed unfazed. After a few seconds, the temple keeper seemed to calm herself and returned to healing. Mercedes took that chance to look over Luminous again. His complexion seemed a bit healthier, but he still wasn't moving.

  
"It's a maze," Phantom continued, now that the tension was gone.

  
"We know that much, Phantom," Mercedes drawled.

  
"And, well, not _everyone_ can be a master thief with an impeccable memory and sense of direction. So I found who I could land led them back to you. Unfortunately, even I couldn't get everyone."

  
"Who are we missing?" It _couldn't_ be just Phantom and the temple keeper remaining; he'd implied there were more. Still, if they were missing someone...

  
"We've lost a dawn warrior and added Evan, Mir, and a crossbowman from their ship." Mercedes took a moment to process that. The dawn warrior was the one with a girlfriend stationed in Elluel, right? Mercedes winced. She could only hope they found the dawn warrior again. _If_ they survived and won and were able to return. She _hated_ delivering bad news.

  
"So, where is everyone else?"

  
"The corsair, the battle mage, and the crossbowman are a short ways back. I left them to their chatter. Apparently, they're old friends. As for Evan and Mir, they are..." Phantom closed his eyes, raised his eyebrows, and took a deep breath. "... Not in the best of mental states right now, but they're with the rest." A surge of almost motherly protectiveness coursed through her.

  
"What happened to them?"

  
"The crossbowman was the only other survivor from their ship. Evan is young. There's not much else to be said."

  
"I see." She'd have to talk with him at some point. There wouldn't be much she could do for him, but maybe just being a listening ear could help. Still, now that some of her other worries had been addressed, she could turn her full attention back to Luminous and the temple keeper. "How is he?"

  
"He'll be fine. I just need to keep healing him through the shock. He should be coming around shortly, but he'll need fluids and plenty of rest," she explained. "Once I'm sure he's through the worst of it, I'd like to take a look at you, too."

  
"I'm fine," Mercedes tried not to sound too snippy. Yes, she still felt dizzy and unbalanced and her head hurt and crying had only made the pain _worse_ , but if they had to rest anyway for Luminous, she could take that opportunity to get the rest she needed, too. She wanted what trained healing they had focused on Luminous, not her. After all, he'd been healing her this entire time and neglecting himself. He needed care now. She just wished that she could be the one to give it. She would have given him some of her elven blessing if she could, but she couldn't.

  
The shame and regret was starting to sink in again. The surprise and relief at seeing Phantom had chased it away for a while, and she was grateful for that distraction, but it couldn't last forever.

  
"Well, I'd already assumed we'd be setting up camp here, anyway," Phantom said. "Just as soon as the others show up, of course. I'd really hate to need to retrieve them if they managed to get lost again."

  
"If you're that worried about it, why not just call them over?" Mercedes asked. They already had enough problems; they didn't need to manufacture more. Before he could reply, she decided to take matters into her own hands. "Evan? Mir? Roxy?" She made her voice loud enough that she hoped they could hear her, but not quite so loud it hurt her head too much.

  
"Just Roxy, or the rest of us, too?" Mercedes didn't recognize the voice, but it had to have been either the battle mage or the crossbowman.

  
"All of you!" Mercedes only had to wait a few seconds before the rest of the group stepped out of the darkness and into view.

  
"... M-Mercedes?" Luminous. Thank goodness. Maybe she'd been loud enough to wake him up. She wasn't about to apologize for that. She felt like she could almost melt in relief. He still wasn't moving beyond opening his eyes a bit, but he was _awake_ and talking. Nothing else mattered in that moment.

  
"I'm right here. You're all right. How are you feeling?"

  
"I'll be fine. I'm... sorry." Luminous blushed slightly and glanced away.

  
"There's nothing to be sorry for."  Granted, what had happened wasn't how she intended on handling things, but at least their feelings were out in the open and reciprocated, and, by the sound of it, they could still keep their focus on the Black Mage. And, more importantly, he was okay. "We can talk later." As relieved and grateful as she was, she wasn't keen on having a delicate and private emotional discussion with an audience that large.

  
"So, what else happened while I was gone? Besides the accidental shooting, of course." Phantom raised his eyebrows.

  
"Can it," Mercedes snapped.

  
"Very well, if you desire privacy, I can respect that. I just wish you'd chosen someone with manners." _Oh, boy, here we go_...

  
"Thank you," Luminous told the temple keeper.

  
"Think nothing of it," she replied.

  
"And where is my thanks for bringing everyone else back safely?" Phantom asked.

  
"I can't recall you thanking us when we rescued you," Mercedes pointed out.

  
"We're simply _even_ ," Luminous said.

  
"You know, I'm a thief, not a beggar, but after going against my nature to round up these lost ducklings, you'd think I'd at least get one thank you. It's bad enough these people are immune to my charms." Phantom gestured to the rest of the group.

  
"We have a friend who's a lot like you, that's why," the corsair said.

  
"But not quite as dashing and handsome, I presume," Phantom said.

  
"Or as suave and devilishly charming, that's true," the battle mage agreed. The crossbowman turned to stare at them for a second before grabbing them by their shoulders and shaking them.

  
"What are you saying? Get a hold of yourself, mango! You can't let creepazoids win!"

  
"Pfft." The corsair failed to hold back a laugh.

  
"'Creepazoid'?" Phantom sounded amused rather than offended. "Please, I'm a _gentleman_."

  
"On to _important_ matters, what of your supplies?" Leave it to Luminous to focus on the concrete reality of their situation. At least he wasn't taking the opportunity to pick a fight with Phantom. There was enough chaos as it was.

  
"We're set for a while. We were able to salvage a lot from Evan's ship. On that note, I was able to make some potions with what we found. Not many, mind you, but you two both look like you could use them." The corsair handed a few potions each to Luminous and Mercedes.

  
"Thank you. You're an alchemist? Are you from Magatia, then?" Mercedes asked, trying to make small talk and steer the conversation away from anything that might lead to drama.

  
"Nah, she's more Ardentmill than Magatia," the battle mage explained.

  
"Still, you could have enjoyed a more peaceful and prosperous life. Why are you on the front lines as a corsair?" Mercedes asked.

  
"Life doesn't always take us where we expect it will. This wasn't my first plan, true, but as long as I can be here making a difference, that's what counts."

  
"That's a good way of looking at life," Mercedes said. She took a sip from one of the potion bottles. She knew it would take a while to take effect, but at least she seemed to be keeping it down. She'd had a few near-misses with food and drink earlier, so that came as a relief. Meanwhile, Luminous was also taking a potion. Mercedes didn't know if it was a concern or a relief that he had chosen the mana potion first.

  
In spite of everything, she felt hopeful.

  
Everyone was back. Minus the dawn warrior, of course, but losses happened. Luminous was all right. They might have a chance yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By this point, you may be wondering if I introduced OCs for the sole purpose of killing them off.  
> You'd be mostly correct.
> 
> I really hate killing off canon characters, but they're trapped in a dangerous hell, and there will be losses. Killing off OCs is more satisfying/intense than killing off nameless faceless redshirts.
> 
> Anyway, I had to re-outline chapters 7 and 8 (Tel was whining at me about my complete and utter disregard for the laws of magic, and since those two chapters were a logistical nightmare to begin with, I decided to scrap and re-do them), so getting the level of detail I want back may take some time.
> 
> I don't feel like I did Phantom justice this chapter, and I'll be showing a better side of him in Chapter 7.


	7. Chapter 7

"If only the Black Mage would save us the trouble and come to us." Luminous didn't feel like arguing with Phantom or pointing out how stupid that would be on the Black Mage's part. After all, he felt the same way.

  
While he was feeling much better overall, his leg still hurt, and he wasn't feeling keen on walking however much longer they had to go before they finally _found_ the Black Mage. He'd occasionally let himself fall behind and then blink forward to catch up and save himself the pain and hassle, but he also had to be mindful of his mana so he had enough left for the final battle. The corsair's potions and the time he'd had to rest and heal had helped a great deal, but they couldn't fix everything.

  
Mercedes kept glancing over at him as if to check up on him every time he fell behind, and he kept looking over at her, too, but neither of them had said anything. Once or twice, they'd caught each others' gazes a bit longer than usual and blushed.

  
Maybe they could talk after the battle. The Black Mage took priority. They needed to _save_ the world so they could _have_ a world to live in.

  
He had waited all this time. He could wait longer.

  
That said, he really hadn't been expecting his feelings to be reciprocated. He hadn't expected to hear the words 'I love you' out of her mouth. He knew they care for each other, and he knew _he_ loved her, but there were some loves that weren't meant to be. He had almost resigned himself to this being one of them.

  
He _wanted_ to talk to her, especially now that both of them were calmer and more stable, just to be _sure_ he wasn't misunderstanding something and getting his hopes up for no reason, and to maybe feel the rush of hearing her say it again, but he couldn't do that with Phantom around.

  
Even if Phantom did somehow disappear for a few minutes, there were still plenty of other people around and very little privacy.

  
The corsair, the battle mage, and the crossbowman seemed to have formed or possibly re-formed their own little group and hardly interacted with anyone outside of it, but he still didn't want them listening in on personal conversations.

  
The temple keeper seemed like a quiet and trustworthy person to begin with, but she seemed... off, since the crash.

  
Luminous trusted Evan and Mir much more than any of the others, but they were both being unusually quiet and withdrawn. He was a bit concerned, but he wasn't about to discuss it if they didn't reach out first.

  
Still, even if the journey was difficult and the social situation wasn't quite comfortable, he was glad he was feeling like himself again. He could almost forget that Mercedes had shot him. The injuries had been shallow enough to heal up almost completely with magic, though they were deep enough they might scar a bit. Since most of the cut on his head was covered by his hair, and his clothes usually covered his shoulders, he wasn't too concerned about it.

  
Even his injuries from the crash were bothering him a lot less. His chest still hurt a bit, but by now he was certain that he _didn't_ have a broken rib; it was just sore. The only real problem was his leg, and even then, he'd fought through worse.

  
Thankfully, he wasn't alone in seeing improvement. Mercedes was doing better, too. She insisted that she was fine, and the temple keeper had agreed that she was mostly recovered, but Luminous still wanted to keep an eye on her. After all, she had snapped at the battle mage when they had raised their voice too much earlier, so she was probably still in pain. He'd offer to heal her some more when they next stopped to rest. Perhaps they'd also get a chance to talk then, though he doubted it.

  
All the more motivation to fight, then. The sooner this was all over, the sooner he'd have a chance to talk to Mercedes in private. In _peace_. He knew it was a selfish reason, but at this point, after all the danger and struggles they'd faced, any additional motivation was a good thing.

  
He couldn't help but wonder about the other ships that had also flown in towards the black sun. Were they facing similar struggles? Had any of them even _survived?_ Evan, Mir, and the crossbowman had survived their descent, but only because Evan had slowed the ship as much as he could, and _then_ Mir had flown him off the deck and to safety. The crossbowman, meanwhile, had jumped on the back of his freezer and also flown to safety.

  
Evan's magic had saved the supplies from becoming too damaged to use, but Mir and the crossbowman's freezer had saved lives.

  
Luminous doubted other ships had had similar resources.

  
He could only hope that Aran and EunWol had survived. They were tough and resourceful, after all.

  
The heroes weren't the only ones, of course, but he couldn't think of anyone else in particular at that moment other than the empress's champion. He certainly wasn't keen on running into them as long as they held the Transcendence Stone, but he hoped they were alive and prepared to fight.

  
On that note, he felt something off. He wondered for a second if, by some coincidence, he was near the stone and the champion.

  
He stopped to take inventory of himself and figure out what was going on. After a few seconds, he recognized the problem.

  
"Be on your guard. We might have enemies approaching." It still bothered him that the monsters here didn't _feel_ like the Black Mage. It didn't make _sense_ that they didn't, especially since they were so close to him.

  
The rest of the party was quick to react. They drew their weapons and prepared for a fight. Luminous's attention was drawn to Evan in particular. Evan gulped and flinched, but he had his wand ready and tried to look determined.

  
"Don't worry, Evan, I can handle this." Phantom was evidently concerned about Evan, too. Luminous wasn't sure how much of Phantom's tone was arrogance and how much was protectiveness. "And you, madame, don't fret. We'll keep you safe." Right. The temple keeper was a noncombatant. _Why_ did they have a noncombatant on the front lines?

  
There was no time to address it further. Vulture-like monsters like the ones from the battle at the campsite were starting to come into view.

  
Mercedes started to shoot them down as they appeared, but even she couldn't get all of them. The crossbowman and the corsair picked off the few stragglers she left behind. Phantom drew in close to Evan and the Temple keeper, herding them closer together so he could keep watch over them. Meanwhile, the battle mage began casting support spells.

  
Luminous wasn't quite sure at first where he would best be able to contribute to the fight.

  
He got his answer when he realized that monsters were coming from the opposite end of the pathway, as well.

  
From what he remembered of the previous battle, light spells seemed marginally more effective against these monsters than dark spells did. Since he was facing away from Mercedes, he didn't have to worry about the bright lights from the spells hurting her head and making her feel worse.

  
After taking out about a dozen monsters with reflection, however, he felt he had to turn to look to check on her anyway. She seemed to be doing well, thankfully, and was mowing down monsters almost as quickly as they appeared. Even better, she was doing some of her usual acrobatics, as well. She was a bit slower than usual, and, while still graceful, she seemed a bit more careful and hesitant, but seeing her up in the air and darting around again was a relief.

  
He was so caught up in watching her that he almost didn't notice a monster get through to him until it was too late. He shoved it away with a wall of hard light when it was mere centimeters from him and then impaled it with a sword from above.

  
He didn't have to be as careful with his mana this time. He still needed to save some mana for the fight with the Black Mage, of course, but there was no sense being as cautious and stingy as he'd been in the last battle.

  
There was nothing stopping him from falling into his usual rhythm.

  
He continued on for what must have been several minutes before he heard someone scream.

  
He knocked back the monsters near him _before_ he turned around this time and opened an aether conduit to hold the line for a while and buy him more time. No sense risking injury or death. He couldn't tell* _who_ had screamed, but _what_ they were screaming at was quite apparent. Twisted vestiges of Alliance members with glowing eyes had joined the vultures. Just like what had happened to the three slain crew members back at the campsite.

  
"Oh, lovely. More of these..." Phantom sighed. "I suppose the least we can do is lay them to rest, eh?" So Phantom must have encountered them while scouting. And if he was choosing to fight, well, Luminous supposed he'd follow his lead. For once. He and Mercedes hadn't tried to fight the remnants of the crew members, after all.

  
He felt sick. Corrupting _life_ was terrible. Corrupting _death_ was, in some ways, worse. Beyond that, he wasn't eager to strike down Alliance members, or at least beings that _looked_ like Alliance members.

  
Still, they had to survive to fight the Black Mage and protect the world. His personal feelings didn't matter.

  
He was just about to attack one that looked vaguely familiar when the temple keeper ran in front of him.

  
"No, stop!" Luminous stopped himself and let the mana he'd gathered for the spell return to its normal form.

  
"What are you doing!?" She could have gotten herself killed! She could have gotten _him_ killed! What was she even _thinking_!? Just then, he noticed a vulture coming up on her from behind. He wanted to strike it down, but he couldn't do that with her in the way! Before he could take any action, Phantom threw a card at it that sliced off one of its wings.

  
"That's Verk!" So that was why it looked familiar. The temple keeper then turned away from Luminous to face the ghost. "Come on, Verk, don't do this --"

  
Luminous knew it wouldn't make a difference. The ghost might have superficially resembled the dawn warrior, but the posture was different. So was the clear hostility toward the party. He couldn't imagine there being much if anything left of the dawn warrior left in there. They could either flee or fight. Since they were surrounded, they had no option but to fight.

  
Unfortunately, the temple keeper was distressed, and he knew that if he killed that ghost, he'd only make it worse, and a panicking ally would only endanger them.

  
With no clear course of action in front of him, he turned and took out his anger on five vultures that had somehow gotten past his aether conduit. He opened a void underneath them and sent darkness crashing down.

  
"NO! DON'T!" Luminous turned back to see that the ghost of the dawn warrior had crumpled and was starting to disintegrate. He looked around for the attacker, and saw the crossbowman standing there, slightly downcast, with his weapon still aimed at the ghost. He hadn't loaded another bolt in his crossbow yet.

  
Phantom, meanwhile, had moved closer to the temple keeper and put one hand on her shoulder.

  
"Shh. It's all right. It wasn't her. See?"

  
"I can't take this, I can't do this anymore, oh goddess, how could you..." It didn't matter how much Phantom tried to calm her down. She had her hands over her mouth in horror and clearly wasn't listening.

  
"That wasn't... really someone, right?" Evan asked.

  
"Verk, that was definitely... Verk. She has to still be out there, right? Right? After the others, _she_ can't be -- I've got to find her." She dashed off. Luminous wanted to stop her, but he was far enough away that he'd have to leave that to others. Besides, if some vultures had gotten through his aether conduit, he had to turn his attention back to the battle before they were overwhelmed by more.

  
After a few more minutes, he felt confident they were safe. He turned around to face the rest of the group. He was about to ask if anyone had retrieved the temple keeper, but he got his answer when he saw the roster. Everyone else was there. She wasn't.

  
"The temple keeper..." Mercedes started, before he could.

  
"I was hoping that wouldn't happen, but I suppose it was inevitable." Phantom sighed.

  
"What do you mean?" Evan asked.

  
"She's a mother who just lost her children," Phantom explained.

  
"They didn't look alike...." Evan managed. He looked very pale and almost as if he might faint.

  
"Family does not need to be related," Luminous said, thinking of Lania.

  
And then he remembered what the Black Mage had done to Lania, and pushed back a wave of revulsion and dread. The Black Mage was _excessively_ cruel.

  
"Luminous?" Mercedes asked, stepping towards him. He drew closer to her for comfort. She seemed to be handling the situation well, he just... wasn't. He wished he were stronger.

  
"We ought to stick together tightly from here on out so we don't lose anyone else."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To clear up some possible confusion, I know it was Hilla. You know it was Hilla. Luminous, at this point, isn't even aware that Hilla is there. He's operating off what are, to him, perfectly reasonable assumptions.
> 
> Next chapter should be up Friday-ish. After that, just one more chapter until I get to hurl canon into the sun ~


	8. Chapter 8

Mercedes pulled the blanket tighter around her in a futile attempt to chase off awareness and go back to sleep. It didn't help. She just couldn't get comfortable again. She would have liked to rest a while longer, but it seemed she was up for the day. Or, at least, what _passed_ for a day in the labyrinth.

  
They imagined it had been about a day since they'd lost the temple keeper. Perhaps a day and a half, now that she'd slept. When they traveled, Phantom had taken the lead, since he seemed to have a better idea where he was going than anyone else did and was the least likely to take them around in circles.

  
Luminous had only grumbled a bit about that, thankfully.

  
Mercedes stood up, stretched, and looked around the temporary campsite they'd made. Phantom, the corsair, and the crossbowman were still sleeping. Evan, Mir, and the battle mage were fiddling with something and occasionally muttering to each other.

  
Luminous was sitting down a bit farther away from the center of the camp than the rest of the group. He looked lost in thought, though she imagined he was at least supposed to be keeping watch, since clearly, no one else was.

  
She quietly walked over and sat down next to him.

  
"Hm?" Luminous must have noticed her approaching, because he didn't startle at all when her shoulder brushed against his; he just turned slightly to look at her.

  
"How are you holding up?"

  
"I'm fine. What about you?"

  
"I'm all right." She didn't like losing people, but the temple keeper had been in so much emotional pain that perhaps it was a mercy for her to be... gone. She was a bit worried about Aran and EunWol, but there was nothing she could do. She'd be fine. Unless, of course, he was asking about her head, in which case she was nearly certain she'd recovered. She didn't quite feel back up to a hundred percent, but it was impossible to feel perfectly fine while trapped in a maze at the end of the world. "How much longer until we head out again?"

  
"That depends on Evan's decision."

  
"We're following him again?" Mercedes wasn't averse to it, of course, she just hadn't expected Evan to be feeling up to leading, given how much the losses had affected him. Maybe he was more resilient than she gave him credit for.

  
"If the decision were to be left in my hands, no matter what time I chose, Phantom would undoubtedly blame  me for disturbing his 'beauty rest'."

  
"Pfft." So it seemed Luminous was actually trying to _avoid_ conflict for once. Good. It warmed her heart to see him growing as a person. Though she couldn't help but wonder if he was only being proactive in avoiding trouble because of the seriousness of the situation and that he'd learned his lesson about fighting during missions. "So, what are those three up to?" If they were occupied enough, and the others were still asleep, she'd finally have a chance to talk to Luminous one-on-one.

  
"They are attempting to repair the ship's communications device."

  
"Do you think they'll succeed?"

  
"I doubt it. Even if they manage to repair the damage from the crash, they would still need to circumvent the obstruction in the communications that hindered us on the way in."

  
"So they'll probably be occupied for quite some time, hm?" Mercedes wondered if they would fight the Black Mage before they managed to re-establish communications with the White Spear and the rest of the fleet. That would leave them with the problem of figuring out an escape plan after the battle on their own.

  
... She hadn't given it much thought, come to think of it. She must have just assumed that they would leave the same way they came on, on the ship. But there was no way of salvaging it, if they could even find it again. She supposed she could blame her lack of thought on the matter on the head injury.

  
"I'd imagine so." Luminous turned slightly so they could see each other better while still sitting next to one another. "Why do you ask?"

  
"I wanted to talk. We haven't really... had a chance to chat, since Phantom came back." Mercedes swallowed nervously. She wondered if she should apologize again for her ricochets hitting him, but he didn't seem concerned about it and there was no sense making things worse by apologizing _too_ much. The conversation she wanted to have would be stressful enough for both of them on its own. "Luminous, I love you. But..."

  
"And I love you too. But...?" He didn't look hurt, but he did look a bit downcast. She wondered if he was already expecting this. That said, it was nice and reassuring to hear those words from his mouth again. They were calmer now, after all. Maybe it meant more this time.

  
"You know we need to focus on the Black Mage."

  
"Of course." His expression evened out, and Mercedes felt her nervousness begin to subside. Maybe he was expecting something worse. Whichever way, she was glad they could still sit there, shoulder to shoulder, looking into each others' eyes, comfortable in spite of the difficult topic.

  
"And that takes priority over... feelings." It still hurt to say it, but she was no stranger to putting her people's needs over her own. Luminous nodded his understanding.

  
"I understand. There is no point in... thinking of the future... unless we _secure_ that future."

  
"What kind of future were you thinking of, then?" Mercedes asked, suddenly curious. He hadn't said he had much of anything planned while on the ship. Maybe he'd given it some more thought. But instead of answering, he blushed and looked away. "You can talk to me, you know."

  
"I know, I simply... perhaps I was overstepping."

  
"Hm?"

  
"Since Lania, Vieren, and Penny are already in Elluel, I thought that, perhaps..."

  
"You can stay, you know." She had already gotten used to having him around, after all. It would be nice, really, to know he was only a few doors down instead of across the forest. Or, maybe, instead of being a few doors down, he could --

  
"SUCCESS!" Mercedes jumped to her feet and had her bowguns pointed at the battle mage before she realized it. She felt and heard Luminous stand up behind her.

  
"Isn't it still too early to tell for sure, though?" Evan asked.

  
"Nope! Well, probably not! Let's give it another try and see." The battle mage seemed oblivious of the weapons pointed at them.

  
"Why not wait for everyone else? You probably woke everyone up, anyway," Mir said.

  
"It's nearly impossible to sleep through a racket like that, it's true," Phantom said. "So, what is going on here?" So not only were the younger mages no longer distracted, Phantom was up. Ugh. She'd have to continue her conversation later. She glanced back over at Luminous. He had a scowl on his face directed at the battle mage. He probably felt the same way.

  
"So, uh, Mir and me and our friend here, we've been working on trying to fix the comms so we can get in contact with everyone else again, and we finally have it! Probably. Right?" Evan asked, glancing over at the battle mage.

  
"Well, we got it to work for a second! I just didn't have the power to keep it going. But with help, I'm sure we can get through to the White Spear, at least." The battle mage packed what looked like jeweler's tools back into a box.

  
"Has the force dampening the communications subsided at all?" Luminous sounded skeptical.

  
"Uh, I don't think so? I don't know. But I do know we can't brute force our way through, which is what had Evan and me stumped for so long, but I re-calibrated it to go at a different frequency that's less affected. And then if Evan and Mir kind of... twist the fog? Is that what you said it was like?"

  
"Yeah." Evan and Mir nodded in unison.

  
"Right. So if they do that, we can get through. Sort of. But even though brute force doesn't work, we still need power to open and maintain the channel. I, uh, don't have that power. And also, uh..." They glanced away, wincing slightly and scratching the back of their neck. "We might _only_ be able to reach the White Spear."

  
"But why?" Mercedes asked. She had _just_ been starting to get her hopes up that they would be able to hear from Aran and EunWol. Still, maybe the White Spear had heard from them. She had to hold onto hope.

  
"To re-calibrate it I kind of had to, uh, reset things. And in the process, previous connections got erased. But we *can* get to the White Spear, because Luminous put enough power into that connection on the way down that it left enough of a mark to store it," the battle mage explained.

  
"Allow me to hazard a guess. You'll need my power again to reach them," Luminous said.

  
"Yeah. If you don't mind, of course," Evan said. "I'd help, but Mir and I are busy working with the field."

  
"Very well. I'll do it." Luminous gave a resigned sigh, then brushed past Mercedes on his way over to the other magicians. Their hands touched, just for a moment, and Mercedes suppressed an urge to reach out and hold on. The mission. This was all for the mission, for her people, for the world.

  
It only took a few seconds for Neinheart's voice to come in, though there was a bit of static.

  
"Empress, I understand your concern, but if anyone can survive in there, it's the champion."

  
"I know, I just hope we hear from them soon. Has anyone reported back?" Cygnus asked.

  
"Unfortunately, no," Neinheart said.

  
"Hello? We're here!" Evan called.

  
"It's been _days_ , Neinheart, and the reports from Maple World just keep getting worse." Cygnus gave no indication that she had heard Evan.

  
"I know that. But we must have faith in the champion," Neinheart said. Mercedes pulled her face back down from an involuntary snarl. She had enough on her plate as it was. Now, not only was she worried about Elluel and Athena, but she had to hear _more_ about 'champion' this and 'champion' that, while Neinheart -- and Cygnus, too -- couldn't even acknowledge her existence.

  
"... You only managed to secure a one way connection, didn't you?" Luminous gave the battle mage a flat look. They winced and shrugged.

  
"I... maybe. Messing with the frequency at our end and not theirs might have done something, and I kinda sorta borrowed some techniques we used to use to spy on the Black Wings. It's better than nothing though, right?"

  
"It's still so difficult to believe that the Black Mage _let_ himself be sealed all those years ago. If even our greatest heroes could do nothing but dance in the palm of his hand..." _What!?_ Could that really be true? But Cygnus wouldn't lie, and Neinheart wouldn't feed her false information. As she looked around, she saw similar shock, horror, and indignation on Luminous and Phantom's faces. "I worry about our champion. Compared to the heroes..."

  
"But the champion can slip the chains of fate. They are the Adversary, and the Black Mage cannot control them. They have power in that unpredictability, no matter their actual strength. Hope is not lost, Empress."

  
It was a lot to take in. Mercedes was one step away from asking them to shut off the device so she could process what she had heard. At the same time, she wanted to talk and ask for clarification ... and maybe yell at Neinheart to vent her frustration. But she couldn't _do_ that.

  
Fortunately, there was silence for a while, besides static, and she was able to calm her racing thoughts down onto one track.

  
It was difficult to find her determination when she felt powerless. If the Black Mage really did have that sort of power, on top of what they had already seen from him, she  didn't know how much use she could be. She was a powerful fighter, but against omniscience, no amount of arrows could turn the tide. The only possible ace in the hole they had was the Transcendence Stone. But that was with the champion, and they didn't know where the champion was or even if they were still alive. At least the stone was away from Luminous... and Cygnus. And, Mercedes hoped, away from Alpha and Beta as well.

  
Was that really all they had, though? If the Black Mage couldn't predict or control _one_ person, then what about the effects that one person had on others? Wouldn't it spiral outward?

  
When they had fought the Black Mage in the past, maybe they were just dancing in the palm of his hand. It hurt. It hurt her pride, _and_ it hurt that the pain they'd all endured, the unique curses they'd faced that tore at each one of them specifically, weren't just necessary sacrifices to save the world. They were just spite. Cruelty. They'd suffered for nothing. Endured _deeply personal_ suffering for nothing.

  
But the past didn't define the present. They'd all met the champion at meetings at one point or another. If it did spiral out, then those minuscule social interactions, those secondhand reports, those passing thoughts and gestures would affect all of them, and maybe change them and their paths just enough for them to win.

  
If she thought that way, the battle was already won and the chains were already broken.

  
They just needed to _find_ the Black Mage and then do what they did best.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and sticking with the story this long!
> 
> The next chapter might be up in a week or so. It's very plot-heavy, so it's going to take me a while. That, and I seem to have acquired a new hyperfixation (which, knowing me, will burn itself out in a week or two).
> 
> Until then!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gsdajdkflda I forgot to cover some plot points from my outline when I first posted this chapter, please bear with me, editing them in now.
> 
> Update: Okay, we should be good.

"Did the Black Mage change his aesthetic after absorbing Aeona's power? I must say, I'm none too fond of the new style." Luminous couldn't find the energy to respond, so he supposed he'd just let Phantom babble on.

  
It gave him something else to focus on, after all. While he needed to remain vigilant for possible threats, idle chatter and the irritation it brought provided a welcome distraction from the endless hallways and feelings of creeping dread and despair.

  
The scenery _had_ changed in the last few kilometers. The cracks in the walls glowed, and magenta candles and skull-like designs decorated the stone around them. While he wasn't sure why, something about it seemed decidedly _off_. He supposed it was because he was expecting to _feel_ the Black Mage, but instead he felt a different darkness. Perhaps Phantom was right and it was due to Aeona's power.

  
At least the change in scenery meant they were making progress. Or, at the very least, that they weren't going around in circles. Unless, of course, the scenery was changing around them as well as the layout.

  
They estimated it had been another two days since they had managed to contact the White Spear. They were starting to run low on supplies again. Though Luminous hated himself for thinking it, especially since he did owe the temple keeper a debt of gratitude for healing him, he was almost glad they had lost people. Fewer mouths to feed meant the remaining supplies would last longer.

  
On the subject of supplies, Luminous wanted to shower, but there was nowhere near enough water to spare for bathing. There was only enough to drink and to wash hands and sometimes faces.

  
Thinking about water brought up his anger at Phantom from earlier. "We have three magicians and we can't get more water?" The _nerve_ of that thief! And though most of his anger was directed at Phantom, some of it was directed at himself, too. Evan and the battle mage were young, and had many other things they needed to focus on learning. But _Luminous_ should have known something that would help! He did know a few spells for supplying water, but those took water from local sources within a few kilometers.

  
There was nothing here in the labyrinth. Trying -- and he _had_ tried -- was just a waste of time and mana.

  
Phantom had set up some sort of dew-trap at one point at the start of a rest, but that hadn't worked. After all, not only was the air so dry, there was no cycle of day and night. While Luminous knew they needed water and he should have been disappointed, he was instead grimly satisfied that Phantom's methods didn't work either.

  
Though they could listen in on the White Spear whenever they wanted, they could not send any communications through to ask for supplies.

  
He had been starting to lose hope. He was beginning to feel desperate; he was worried about Lania after overhearing increasingly grim reports from Maple World and from Victoria Island in particular. He was anxious to fight, but there was nothing _to_ fight -- they hadn't even encountered more than one or two monsters at a time since the battle they'd lost the temple keeper in, and Mercedes usually shot down the few monsters they did run across before he had a chance to react.

  
Mercedes' presence was the one thing steadying him.

  
It hurt to hope, especially on a romantic front, but hope was better than despair.

  
They'd had another chance to chat the last time the party stopped for a rest. They had been avoiding much talk about how a relationship would work, _if_ it would work. They both understood that the Black Mage came first. Unfortunately, just because they weren't _talking_ about it didn't meant Luminous wasn't _thinking_ about it.

  
He didn't know what was more distracting; to talk about it, or to not talk about it and instead wonder and worry.

  
Still, even if they'd been avoiding that one topic, it had been good to have some time to chat and to have each other's company and confidence. He had admitted to her that, occasionally, he'd been hearing indistinct whispers. He would have attributed it to exhaustion, but he'd heard them twice when he felt well-rested, as well. He didn't want the others to know, but he could trust her. She had said she was experiencing the same thing. It was worrying that it was happening to them, but at least they were going through it together, and had each other's trust and support.

  
"Wait. I hear something," Mercedes said. Luminous stopped in his tracks. He'd *just* been thinking about that! But he and Mercedes had agreed that they didn't want to tell the others and have them suspect they were going crazy. So if Mercedes was admitting it to the group...

  
"Oh, you too?" The battle mage asked. Now that Luminous thought of it, he could hear it too. It was different from the whispers. This sounded less like an indecipherable whisper and more like a distant voice.

  
"Me too. Does anyone know who's talking or what they're saying? Maybe it's someone from another ship. I hope we find more survivors..." Evan said.

  
"I know that voice," Phantom started. Luminous almost didn't recognize Phantom's voice; all pretense and playfulness were gone. "Orchid!" Phantom snarled, then disappeared in a cloud of cards.

  
"Oh, no," Mercedes groaned. Luminous turned to see her with one hand on her forehead. "Is this _really_ the time?"

  
"We are _not_ helping him," Luminous said.

  
"I want to. If Orchid is there, I need to give her a piece of my mind," the battle mage said.

  
"Orchid has done many terrible things, but I don't think she's a threat right now. And even if she is a threat, Phantom is better off with help," Evan said.

  
"He likes working alone," Luminous pointed out.

  
"I know he does, but we can't just stand here and do nothing," Mercedes said.

  
"Even if we go after Phantom, how would we find him?" The crossbowman asked.

  
"Follow the voices, I guess?" Evan suggested.

  
"We're still in a maze, though," Mercedes pointed out, "one that changes every so often, so we can't even rely on memory."

  
"Come on, it can't be that hard, since we're close enough to hear them," the battle mage said. "I'm going to go look for them." They gripped their staff tighter and looked ready for a fight.

  
"Don't split the party, you know that!" The crossbowman snapped.

  
"The party's already split with Phantom gone," the battle mage replied.

  
"Enough," Mercedes started, using an authoritative tone of voice that commanded respect. All bickering stopped and everyone froze. "This is how we're going to move forward. We are going to proceed, as a _group_ \--" Mercedes glared at the battle mage, "-- in the direction the voices are coming from. We don't know what we're getting ourselves into, so I want everyone to be on high alert. Do I make myself clear?"

  
"Yes, ma'am," just about everyone replied.

  
"Good." Mercedes began leading them down the hall, leaving Luminous quietly impressed. She couldn't have any more idea where they were going than he did, but she had the drive and the confidence to hold them together.

  
They only made it a few paces before he sensed something more _off_ than before.

  
"Wait--" Luminous started, just as he felt a large incoming surge of magic. Everyone froze. Luminous called to mind a few defensive spells in case he needed to use them.

  
He didn't have the chance.

  
The surge rippled over and through them, but he didn't think it hurt them. Luminous blinked. Most of the walls were gone, and the few that remained were changed. Their surroundings had changed from green and brown to primarily blue. The remaining  walls had taken on strange shapes; more rounded edges and fewer straight lines. The overall effect, along with the visible Erda currents, was otherworldly.

  
If he squinted, in the distance, he was fairly confident he could see people up ahead.

  
"Proceed with caution," Mercedes said.

  
Luminous fell into step next to her as he tried to reorient himself. The visible surroundings weren't the only things that had changed. Everything had shifted on a magical front, as well. It felt almost like coming up for air after a deep dive. It was clear and fresh, but it was also hollow. There was a familiar darkness, but at the same time, a strange feeling of tingling. He _could_ feel the Black Mage now, at least, but it was... different, in a way that the swirling Erda patterns couldn't account for.

  
As they approached, he recognized Phantom, EunWol, and Aran, but saw no sign of Orchid.

  
Aran and EunWol were restraining Phantom, each grabbing onto an arm. Luminous was impressed they could hold him down; not only was Phantom, well, _Phantom_ , but Aran and EunWol both looked sweaty and out of breath and their weapons were covered in what must have been some sort of monster's blood. Both of them seemed focused on Phantom and didn't seem to notice the rest of the party approaching.

  
"What's going on?" Evan asked.

  
"Oh! It's good to see you all safe," EunWol said, turning to give them a weary smile.

  
"Orchid and the Empress's champion killed Hilla," Aran explained. Aran seemed to be presenting feminine, but Luminous would wait for confirmation. "We held off the monsters she summoned while they did so. As soon as she was defeated, they both ran off ahead." Hilla? Wasn't she already dead? But if she had still been alive, then maybe that would explain why the monsters and the magic felt different.

  
"Orchid did? She's on our side?" The corsair asked.

  
"Yes. She has Guwaru's blessing," EunWol explained. Luminous tried not to startle, and looked over at Mercedes. She looked just as shocked and also a bit betrayed. They were evidently thinking the same thing. Why would _Guwaru_ give _Orchid_ his blessing?

  
True, Orchid had helped at Black Heaven, but she was still a _commander_ , and the Black Wings had done many evil things under her command. To the best of Luminous's knowledge, she didn't even have Guwaru's excuse, and hadn't sought out any sort of atonement beyond her actions at Black Heaven.

  
His thoughts on the matter would have to wait. The Erda flow around them was increasing, and it came in chaotic swirls rather than smooth currents. He had a bad feeling about it. There was powerful magic at play.

  
Just as Luminous was about to ask what their next move should be, he felt and heard rumbling coming from up ahead.

  
"Everyone, get cover!" Aran shouted. Aran and EunWol dragged Phantom behind one of the few remaining walls. Luminous and Mercedes also took shelter behind the wall, and held onto each other for reassurance. Mir joined them after a second. Meanwhile, the battle mage created a protective dome a few meters away from the wall; the corsair joined them underneath it.

  
Luminous looked around to see where Evan was just in time to see the crossbowman shove him toward the other heroes behind the wall.

  
There was a bright flash of light, a roaring sound, and enough of a magical _force_ to cause him to lose focus on some last minute defensive spells he had been almost ready to cast.

  
He shook his head to clear it and looked around. The surroundings were unchanged. EunWol and Aran had let go of Phantom, who seemed marginally calmer (or at least more focused on something _other_ than Orchid). Evan was clinging tightly to Mir.

  
The battle mage's barrier flickered and went down, leaving them and the corsair standing. The crossbowman, meanwhile, had hit the ground after pushing Evan, and was pulling himself to his feet.

  
"Ow?" The corsair said.

  
"Ugh, I hate it when things get through the barrier, that tingles," the battle mage complained.

  
Then, with no warning, they broke apart into dust and swirled away on the Erda currents.

  
"No!" The crossbowman stared at his vanished friends and seemed about to reach for them before he, too, disintegrated.

  
Luminous frantically looked around at the other heroes. Would one of them be next? What had even _happened_?

  
After a few moments of nothing happening, he felt some confidence that they would be safe. He felt pressure around him, and realized that he and Mercedes were holding onto each other tightly. He let go, and felt Mercedes do the same. They were safe. Or, at least, as safe as they could be.

  
No one had spoken. Luminous supposed they were all a bit numb. After days of tedium and despair, so many shocking things had happened in such a short time, including the loss of more teammates. Luminous wasn't close to any of them, but he had been around the battle mage and the corsair for a few weeks, and now they were simply... gone. Completely gone. Not even bodies. He could handle bodies. But annihilation...

  
He shook it off. He needed to focus. They were _so close_. He could see the shock on the other heroes' faces turning to determination as well.

  
They couldn't stay there. They could get caught up in another surge of... whatever that was.

  
They had to get to the Black Mage and put an end to this madness. They had been delayed long enough. The maze was gone, so there was one less obstacle keeping them from finding the Black Mage and making him PAY. Luminous was fairly confident he could feel his way from here by following the Black Mage's darkness.

  
He looked at Mercedes, and they shared a stern nod. All the heroes were back together again. They didn't need to talk. They knew what they needed to do.

  
It was time for the final battle.

 

With luck, it would go better than the last time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, that's that! Thank you for reading =D
> 
> There will be one more piece to this series, but it will be a while before I get around to posting the first chapter. My work schedule's crazy again, and I need some time to rest, no matter how excited I am to hurl canon into the sun.
> 
> Just 11 chapters to go and the series will be finished!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to all the people who make this series possible!  
> >Everyone who sends me feedback, whether through kudos, comments, or private messages  
> >Satsuha, for setting this ship sailing  
> >Roxy, for letting me write her character (the corsair) into this piece  
> >Zara, for letting me write his character (the crossbowman) into this piece. Also my other two friends named Zara for their emotional support. Even if none of you three end up reading this.  
> >My good friends on Discord and Bnet, for putting up with my brainstorming, ranting, and general garbage


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